McClurg to go is a no go

Students have complained about the lack of paper cups readily available in McClurg this year, referencing last year when people would put (for example) pizza in a cup to-go. The original purpose of these cups, however, according to the Director of Business Services Rich Berlin, was to make sure students did not take glassware out of the dining hall when taking a drink to class or their dorm. Otherwise, there was no Sewanee Dining takeout program. The policy for carrying food out of McClurg is “to allow two pieces of hand fruit or one piece of fruit and an unfinished desert,” said Berlin. Stu-dents are also allowed to fill reusable drink bottles from the beverage machines, a commodity many students use for coffee, water, or Powerade. My roommate and I even fill a water bottle with milk to put in our fridge for late-night cereal. The limited take-out See TOGO Photo by Kimberly Williams Page has no time to eat break-fast due to “crew practice, needing to get ready policy is meant to foster a sense of community when all of us dine together at McClurg. Eliminating the paper cups this year was meant to increase the feeling of togetherness, and also meant to cut down on the amount of waste the University produces. Last year, the dining hall bought 542,000 paper cups, which amounts to 12,068 lbs of waste and produces 135,500 lbs of CO2. That went against McClurg’s “ongoing commitment to… sustain-ability” that it advertises on its Sewanee web page.

Still, this enforcement or adherence to the policy frustrates students, especially those who do not have time in their sched-ules for sit down meals. Haig Manjikian (C’18) for class, and having only ten minutes to eat before my first class.” On the other hand, Anne Carter Stowe (C’15) recognized that the policy “may be bothersome to us, but is totally understandable.”

No one likes the feeling of being policed regarding what they eat or for what reasons they use their resources. However, it’s important to know how much waste we’re producing when using paper cups. They can-not be recycled, and for a school that prides itself on being environmentally aware, that should be a no-go. Also, keep in mind that the paper cups are still available at the front desk, and if you need to take coffee and tea to class, using a to-go cup is still an option.